


None of My Business

by SoftPawed_Visitor



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Battle, Drabble, Gen, Grumpy Cloud, Heartless (Kingdom Hearts) - Freeform, Insight in hindsight, Karma is a Bitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-02-23 14:50:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23879797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoftPawed_Visitor/pseuds/SoftPawed_Visitor
Summary: When Cloud told Sora that he didn't cared about what happened to Hollow Bastion, he had meant it.
Kudos: 8





	None of My Business

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea ages ago when I first played KH2 and spoke to Cloud at the Marketplace during the whole Hollow Bastion/Space Paranoids part 2 (when the MCP rebels real hard). I did a quick draft of this story back then, but it's been so long ago that I can't guarantee that all the facts and descriptions are correct. Feel free to let me know if something is off, and I hope you enjoy :)

When Cloud told Sora that he couldn’t care less about what happened to this world, he meant it. Worst case scenario the world would be destroyed - like so many others - or it wouldn’t. Whichever outcome didn’t really matter to him. If it died, he could always move on to another one, and if it survived… well, maybe that would finally lighten Leon’s mood. The Restoration committee had, after all, worked admirably hard to put everything back together. But Cloud hadn’t played any part in that.

He also meant it when he told Sora that they could handle this problem by themselves, because one: it had nothing to do with him - as made clear above - and two: the computer gone mad? It sounded absolutely ludicrous.

Cid had said something about a program - at least Cloud thought it was a program, he hadn’t been paying attention - called MPG or MRC. He wasn’t sure, but somehow the town’s defense system had been turned against them and started letting Heartless in, which had caused Cid to nearly pop a vein. Cloud took the decision to leave after the man’s face had taken on a whole new colour of red. 

Now, Cloud might not know all that much about highly technological computers with minds of their own, but if it was causing as much trouble as everyone seemed to think it was, why didn’t they just cut the power? He may have been stuck in the Underworld for longer than he’d thought, but computers still ran on power, didn’t they? If they shut it down, that should stop the rampage of the defence system for long enough that they could gather themselves and come up with a proper solution. The system had already been rather flawed even before the takeover, if anyone had bothered to ask Cloud’s opinion about it, and he was pretty sure that Hollow Bastion would be no worse for wear if they kept it turned off for a few hours or so.

But no, instead they were going to turn the Keyblade Master and his strange talking pets into a digital form that they could  _ send into the computer _ , and fix things from there. Cloud steadfastly refused to dwell upon that, it would just freak him out. Besides, none of his business, right? Right.

Satisfied with that discussion being out of his head, Cloud left the Marketplace and headed for the Borough. One good thing about this ruckus with the computer was that Tifa had taken a short break from her Have-you-seen-a-guy-with-spiky-hair mission to help the others out, which meant that Cloud could walk around freely without having to dive for the nearest hideout every time he heard purposeful footsteps head his way.

However, he should have known that his peace wouldn’t last. It never did.

Walking up the stairs that lead to the Bailey, Cloud was not the least surprised to see some Heartless pop up. The dark creatures had always been a common occurrence, hacked computer or not, especially in the outskirts of town. While under contract with Hades, the Heartless had never bothered Cloud except during tournaments, but that hadn’t been the case after arriving at Hollow Bastion. Though irritating at first, he’d soon come to realize what an excellent tool they were for working out stress and irritation, or just to get some quick workout into his otherwise hectic schedule of Sephiroth hunting. 

Casually drawing First Tsurugi, Cloud cleaned away half of them with broad swipes within seconds. But as he turned to finish off the rest, something highly unexpected happened: he got attacked from below.

_ What? _ he thought as he got knocked into the air. This made no sense. Although some Heartless had a tendency to act all sneaky and evasive, attacking from below wasn’t part of their known repertoire. 

Quickly doing a backflip, Cloud managed to land somewhat gracefully on his feet, skidding back to keep some distance from whatever it was that had attacked him. Looking around, he wasn’t able to pinpoint who the new enemy was before he was sent flying again.

After getting over the shock, he quickly turned around midair to see his assailant. It took him so long to process what he was seeing that he’d almost crashed into the ground before his brain caught up. Small red orbs. Small red orbs that once were white, and part of Cid’s beloved defense system. Small red orbs that were designed to eliminate whatever they thought to be a threat, and Cloud had just made their list, apparently.

He landed again, this time keeping his eyes on the ground while trying not to stay in one place for too long. What to do now? If he damaged the damn things, Cid would be pissed, and it required no sifting through his broken memory for Cloud to be absolutely certain of what a bad idea that would be.

What was he left to do, then? Just jumping around and hoping that it would stop as soon as Sora had managed to do whatever it was he was doing? No way. Cloud could quietly admit to himself that he had developed a certain fondness for the kid, but he’d seen enough to know that distraction and detours were never far from the boy’s mind.

Speaking of distraction, Cloud realized that he’d succumbed to it himself when he misstepped and got his feet knocked out from under him once again. This time however, instead of being sent flying into the air, he simply lost his balance and fell backwards, right onto a bunch of red orbs.

_ Oh, f--- _

He quickly tried to roll off, but the orbs moved, and he lost his balance. That was the start of a vicious cycle. They would flip him down the stairs to the Bailey, catch him before he could even process what was happening,  _ propel _ him into the air, catch him when he came down, and then carry him up the stairs again, where he would proceed to get thrown down them once more. Every time he tried to get off the orbs or land on his feet, they would twist around underneath him, making him crash into the hard ground. Painful? Yes. Humiliating? More than words could describe. At least he still had his trusted Tsurugi. 

Twisting on his side, Cloud used the small momentum that it gave him to lift his sword and smash it down in the hopes that it would at least break some of the orbs, Cid’s feelings be damned. He felt way too satisfied when he saw the small puffs of smoke that emitted from a handful of broken orbs. 

For a few seconds, everything stood still. It was like the orbs were physically shocked over the turn of events, and Cloud took the opportunity to finally make his getaway. Quickly standing up and turning around, he came face to face with a Heartless, shaped like a canon.

Cloud quietly swore to himself.

The Heartless. He’d completely forgotten about the stupid Heartless. And now he was staring down a literal barrel because of it. 

As he felt the cannonball blast past where his head had just been, and from the corner of his eye caught a glimps of how the hateful orbs seemed to have gathered together once more, Cloud couldn't help but wonder if maybe he could have prevented ending up in this situation, somehow.

  
  


Leon-not-Squall Leonhart had been patrolling around to make sure that no more stray Heartless were causing trouble, when pillars of light had suddenly risen up around the outskirts of town. Trying to control his excitement, he’d hurried towards the Restoration Site, where the view of the lights should be clearer. As he approached, he could discern a familiar silhouette up ahead: Cloud. It seemed like he’d decided to stick around after all, Leon was relieved to note. The blonde was staring up at the sky in what he assumed was awe, as small specs of light slowly started to fall down towards the ground. 

With a grin, Leon walked forward to join him. He’d almost forgotten how beautiful his home once was, and the gratefulness he felt for Sora in that moment knew no bounds. The kid had done what he’d never truly dared to hope for.

“That’s right… I remember now,” Leon started as he stopped beside Cloud. Whatever he’d been about to continue with completely slipped his mind when he turned towards the man, and took in his appearance for the first time. Battered and beaten, Cloud had a very tired look on his face. “What… what happened to you?”

Cloud frowned in something between pain and irritation. “I... might have been slightly wrong in an assumption I previously made.”


End file.
